The Sirens of Titan

The richest, most depraved man on Earth, Malachi Constant, is offered a chance to take a space journey to distant worlds with a beautiful woman at his side. Of course, there's a catch to the invitation...

Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast of Champions (1973) provides frantic, scattershot satire and a collage of Vonnegut's obsessions. His recurring cast of characters and American landscape was perhaps the most controversial of his canon; it was felt by many at the time to be a disappointing successor to Slaughterhouse-Five, which had made Vonnegut's literary reputation.

Player Piano

Kurt Vonnegut's first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul's rebellion is vintage Vonnegut – wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

Eliot Rosewater, a drunk volunteer fireman and president of the fabulously rich Rosewater Foundation, is about to attempt a noble experiment with human nature, with a little help from writer Kilgore Trout. The result is Kurt Vonnegut's funniest satire, an etched-in-acid portrayal of the greed, hypocrisy, and follies of the flesh we are all heir to.

Slaughterhouse-Five

Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence).

Cat's Cradle

Cat's Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut's satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet's ultimate fate, it features a dwarf as the protagonist; a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer; and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat's Cradle is one of this century's most important works...and Vonnegut at his very best.

Slapstick

Perhaps the most autobiographical (and deliberately least disciplined) of Vonnegut's novels, Slapstick (1976) is in the form of a broken family odyssey and is surely a demonstration of its eponymous title. The story centers on brother and sister twins, children of Wilbur Swain, who are in sympathetic and (possibly) telepathic communication and who represent Vonnegut's relationship with his own sister who died young of cancer almost two decades before the book's publication.

Galapagos

Galapagos takes the listener back one million years to A.D. 1986. A simple vacation cruise suddenly becomes an evolutionary journey. Thanks to an apocalypse, a small group of survivors stranded on the Galapagos Islands are about to become the progenitors of a brave new, and totally different, human race.

4 3 2 1

On March 3, 1947, in the maternity ward of Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, Archibald Isaac Ferguson, the one and only child of Rose and Stanley Ferguson, is born. From that single beginning, Ferguson's life will take four simultaneous and independent fictional paths. Four Fergusons made of the same genetic material, four boys who are the same boy, will go on to lead four parallel and entirely different lives. Family fortunes diverge. Loves and friendships and intellectual passions contrast.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

In 1937, Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from "the good fight", For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Mother Night

American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Kurt Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of grey with a verdict that will haunt us all. Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense.

Fight Club

Every weekend, in basements and car parks across the country, young men with good white-collar jobs and absent fathers take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other barehanded. Then they go back to those jobs with blackened eyes and loosened teeth and the sense that they can handle anything. Fight Club is the invention of Tyler Durden, projectionist, waiter and dark, anarchic genius. And it's only the beginning of his plans for revenge on the world.

Jerusalem

In the half a square mile of decay and demolition that was England's Saxon capital, eternity is loitering between the firetrap tower blocks. Embedded in the grubby amber of the district's narrative, among its saints, kings, prostitutes and derelicts, a different kind of human time is happening. Through the labyrinthine streets and minutes of Jerusalem tread ghosts that sing of wealth and poverty, of Africa, hymns and our threadbare millennium.

Boggy of Bucks says:"Stunning, Flawed, Fantastic and Poetic. And a bit long."

Fahrenheit 451

Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family."

Ubik

Glen Runciter runs a lucrative business - deploying his teams of anti-psychics to corporate clients who want privacy and security from psychic spies. But when he and his top team are ambushed by a rival, he is gravely injured and placed in "half-life," a dreamlike state of suspended animation. Soon, though, the surviving members of the team begin experiencing some strange phenomena, such as Runciter's face appearing on coins and the world seeming to move backward in time.

The Brothers Karamazov [Naxos AudioBooks Edition]

Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a titanic figure among the world's great authors, and The Brothers Karamazov is often hailed as his finest novel. A masterpiece on many levels, it transcends the boundaries of a gripping murder mystery to become a moving account of the battle between love and hate, faith and despair, compassion and cruelty, good and evil.

Digging Up Mother: A Love Story

Doug Stanhope is one of the most critically acclaimed and stridently unrepentant comedians of his generation. What will surprise some is that he owes so much of his dark and sometimes uncomfortably honest sense of humor to his mother, Bonnie.

Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons

With cutting wit, fierce conviction, and surprising empathy, Vonnegut explores a diverse range of topics including society, politics, sex, literature, and mortality. Fans who believe they've read all of Vonnegut's work will be delighted to find the author speaking frankly about timely and relevant new topics - with an amusing yet insightful style that's instantly recognizable.

Timequake

According to Kurt Vonnegut's alter ego, the old science fiction writer Kilgore Trout, a global timequake will occur on February 13, 2001, at 2:27 p.m. It will be the moment when the universe suffers a crisis of conscience: Should it go on expanding indefinitely or collapse and make another great big BANG? For its own cosmic reasons, it decides to back up a decade to 1991, giving the world a 10-year case of deja vu, making everybody and everything do exactly what they'd done during the past decade.

Bluebeard: The Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian (1916-1988)

Meet Rabo Karabekian, a moderately successful surrealist painter who we meet late in life and see struggling (like all of Vonnegut's key characters) with the dregs of unresolved pain and the consequences of brutality. Loosely based on the legend of Bluebeard (best realized in Bela Bartok's one-act opera), the novel follows Karabekian through the last events in his life that is heavy with women, painting, artistic ambition, artistic fraudulence, and as of yet unknown consequence.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: and Other Clinical Tales

Oliver Sacks' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat tells the stories of individuals afflicted with fantastic perceptual and intellectual aberrations: patients who have lost their memories and with them the greater part of their pasts; who are no longer able to recognize people and common objects; who are stricken with violent tics and grimaces or who shout involuntary obscenities; whose limbs have become alien; who have been dismissed as retarded yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents.

Unfolding in a graveyard over the course of a single night, narrated by a dazzling chorus of voices, Lincoln in the Bardo is a literary experience unlike any other, for no one but Saunders could conceive it. February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln's beloved 11-year-old son, Willie, dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery.

Publisher's Summary

Kurt Vonnegut is a master of contemporary American Literature. His black humor, satiric voice, and incomparable imagination first captured America's attention in The Sirens of Titan in 1959 and established him as a "true artist" (The New York Times) with Cat's Cradle in 1963. He is, as Graham Greene has declared, "one of the best living American writers".

Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut's shorter works. Originally printed in publications as diverse as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Atlantic Monthly, what these superb stories share is Vonnegut's audacious sense of humor and extraordinary range of creative vision.

This is an excellent short story collection beautifully performed by several readers.
The sci fi stories are the best ones, but there are more stories about everyday people and situations. Many of the stories conjure up a real feel for the 1950's and 60's, including the Kennedys, Marilyn Monroe, sleezey jazz clubs, teenage rebelion and Cold War paranioa; I am not usually drawn to that kind of thing but this collection had me hooked.

It is amazing how the years change us and the way we view the world, this book was published in 1968 forty-nine years ago When the fascination with the Kennedys was at its peak, but ask any young person nowadays what they know about it and you would be lucky if they mention the assassination, it all seems so removed from our world so distant from our culture and yet the concerns with missiles, Cuba, Russia, and the Orient persist, but the Kennedys are not part of it and that is what makes this book seem dated and even tainted with the fascination of this family, they are mention as reference to historical events as if they had been pivotal to history when in reality they are just history.

The main story is to our modern taste offensive in a way that again shows how much we have changed culturally.Others are funny in the way only Kurt Vonnegut could be, some are sad reflections of our humanity and very eloquent in demonstrating our shortcomings.

I had read this collection of stories in high school and loved it. When I saw it came out in audio, I snapped it up. It's even better than I remembered it. This collection has it all: from quirky romance to thought-provoking sci-fi to biting (and sometimes hilarious) political satire.

This collection also includes one of the most disturbing short stories I've ever read: the haunting war tale "All the King's Horses".

All stories are well read, by a collection of very capable narrators.

25 of 25 people found this review helpful

Tyler Caughill

01/11/10

Overall

"Typically Vonnegut ..."

I found this collection of stories to be both mismatched and bizarre, and enjoyed them thoroughly. If you are looking for Chicken Soup for your Soul ... look elsewhere. If you are looking for a strange collection of short stories that will make think about them hours after listening, then this is for you.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

R. Baker

Amarillo, TX United States

13/10/06

Overall

"Light reading pleasure"

Kurt Vonnegut?s Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of short stories. Some of the stories are dated material and stories that might require knowledge of current events from the 1960?s to fully understand. This is not the norm for most of the stories. The stories subjects range from science fiction to American humor. I found many of the stories to be delightful, imaginative and laugh out loud funny. This audio book is a good family travel book that can be enjoyed by many listeners but some of the stories may not be appropriate for children under the age of 13 due to subject matter.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

Ryan

Somerville, MA, United States

30/10/11

Overall

Performance

Story

"Great intro to Vonnegut"

In my mind, Kurt Vonnegut is the writerly equivalent to an eccentric, sarcastic, but kindly old uncle, the one you can always count on to take the stuffing out of your more puffed-up, less agile-minded relatives at family Christmas parties, while giving you a sly wink. In an important way, he was a voice for America in the 1950s and 60s, both a counterpoint to and a commenter on "mainstream" attitudes. He could do zaniness, anger, sorrow, and gentleness equally well.

This collection is a fine intro to what made the man great. A few stories fall a little flat, and a few feel dated, but most still resonate in one way or another. In style, they range from memoir to science fiction to allegory to absurd satire to"straight" fiction, which make them interesting as a prismatic breakdown of the eccentric, eclectic voice Vonnegut uses in his longer works. My own favorite story was a poignant piece about a half-black German orphan who encounters a unit of black American GIs in post-WWII Europe, and the friendship he forms with a particular soldier.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

no te metas con el furioso

Tennessee

28/09/11

Overall

Performance

Story

"One of the best authors [FULL STOP]"

Vonnegut was one of the best authors this country every produced. This collection of short stories does not disappoint. My favorite stories within have to be Welcome to the Monkey House and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Tony Roberts is the best of the group of narrators, but they are all great story tellers. Worth the money/credit

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Turtle

Tyler, TX, United States

04/12/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Thought provoking."

Vonnegut, I think, is required reading to understand the 20th century. These are accessible short stories. For the thoughtful reader, they will engender deep thoughts on morality and the value of patriotism. I don't always agree with Vonnegut, but I always enjoy him.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Niels J. Rasmussen

Beverly Hills, California USA

06/03/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Everything From Sci/Fi to RomCom At Its Best"

Any additional comments?

This as an absolutely AMAZING collection in one single book."Welcome to the Monkey House" proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Vonnegut is truly a master of the medium when it comes to the short story.And although this book is under the "Sci-Fi/Fantasy" category on Audible, its genres span almost everything out there. A story set in the distant future will be followed by a playful romantic comedy, in turn followed by dark social satire. It's fantastic.

I honestly cannot recommend this book enough. It is a perfect introduction to Vonnegut as an author for those who aren't familiar with him.

Nearly every one of the many stories in the collection is pure gold, and those that aren't are still good enough that they don't detract from the book's overall impact.

Get this book.

9.43 / 10.00

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Sandra L. Etemad

Philadelphia, PA

30/04/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"He was a real master of the short story"

It's interesting to listen to a classic sci-if short story collection knowing that these stories helped inspire the newer ones. I kept getting into my head and playing Wallace Shawn from Princess Pride about predicting the endings. Everybody should read this collection. It will make your skin fireproof and indestructible.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Pcurrier

05/04/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"good set of short stories"

Most stories are awesome, some day a bit too long. Awesome collection if you are a Vonnegut fan.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Shane Alexander Hunt

Springville

16/02/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"Delightful"

It takes great skill to craft a narrative that is at once amusing, relatable and cerebral. In this collection of short stories, Kurt Vonnegut does it 25 times in a row with seeming effortlessness. This was a delightful read performed perfectly.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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